Will Wolves be a bad moment for Chelsea?

That’s according to Blues boss Andre Villas-Boas, who finds himself treading in the very footsteps that saw predecessor Carlo Ancelotti march towards unemployment last season.

The Blues’ recent results look remarkably similar to those which undermined Ancelotti’s position at the club 12 months back. Both managers have suffered a crushing defeat to Arsenal; a 1-1 draw at Tottenham; and the haphazard defending which resulted in shipping three goals at home to Aston Villa. Though Ancelotti’s side emerged from that New Year game against Villa with a draw, as opposed to Villas-Boas’ defeat.

Now, as last year, a Chelsea boss under immense pressure and scrutiny makes an early-January trip to Molineux for a game that really could be make or break.

Villas-Boas is certain he can lift his team.

“That’s the easy part,” he said. “It’s a game within 48 hours (of the last one) and we don’t have to wait for another opportunity to prove that we can put things back on the right track. Psychologically it’s a plus.”

Last season at Wolves, Ancelotti’s Chelsea lost 1-0 thanks to a Jose Bosingwa own goal – the very nadir of the Italian coach’s so-called ‘bad moment’. From then onwards, he was seen by many as a dead man walking – despite winning the FA Cup and Premier League double the previous season.

Meanwhile Villas-Boas, yet to prove himself at Chelsea, is already in the position of having to write-off trophies.

He said: “The December fixtures were always going to be difficult for everybody. They are proving difficult for all the top clubs and we haven’t made the most of the opportunities.

“If we had continued to be competent from what we did against Man City we would maybe be challenging for the League. You can say we might have lost it in December.”

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest Chelsea news.

Chelsea target Arsenal and Tottenham stars

Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas is planning an audacious £65 million double swoop on Arsenal and Tottenham stars Theo Walcott and Luka Modric.

Having been reportedly given a transfer war chest of £140 million by owner Roman Abramovich, Villas-Boas is planning to revamp his squad with young guns in a bid to secure the all important top four finish that the Blues currently find just out of reach.

The Portuguese manager will look to re-ignite interest in Tottenham midfielder Modric, a player the West London club tried hard to secure in the summer and a player who has himself stated his desire to make the move to Chelsea.

The Croatian international demanded a move away from White Hart Lane after hearing of interest from Villas-Boas but Spurs chairman Daniel Levy refused to sell the 26 year-old.

Despite Tottenham’s great start to the campaign Modric has recently been quoted as saying that a move to Chelsea is still a possibility and Chelsea will launch a fresh £35m bid for the former Dinamo Zagreb man as they seek to revive their flagging Premier League campaign.

Villas-Boas is also a big admirer of Arsenal winger Theo Walcott and the continuing efforts to get the young England man to sign a new Gunners contract have alerted Chelsea to the possibility of completing an audacious swoop.

The former Southampton man has just 18 months to run on his current contract and reportedly his £85,000 a week demands are not being met by the North London club.

Chelsea are prepared to offer £30m for the 22 year-old, who started the season with a bang but has been somewhat out of sorts over the past month leading to speculation that all is not well at the Emirates Stadium.

Villas-Boas will reportedly sanction a wage offer of as much as £120k a week, an offer far in excess of his reported demands and will hope that the Arsenal attacker may push to leave the club if his demands are not met.

The former FC Porto boss sees Walcott as an ideal signing to add more natural width to his attack and would ably help become of his policy to reverse the ageing nature of his Chelsea squad.

Chelsea saw first hand what Theo Walcott is capable of as the young wide-man tortured Villas-Boas’s side during Arsenal’s 5-3 win at Stamford Bridge back in October.

Chelsea should brace themselves for a bid from Barcelona for their new midfield enforcer Oriol Romeu.

Andre Villas-Boas only signed the 20-year-old in the summer from the Catalan club but they inserted a number of buy-back clauses in the deal that cost Chelsea just £5m.

The La Liga side can buy the midfield anchorman back for £10m during 2012 or £15m the following year but, contrary to some reports earlier in the season, Chelsea must agree to any deal.

Barca boss Pep Guardiola is believed to be interested in taking the youngster back to the Nou Camp, according to Spanish publication Marca, as Seydou Keita is set to leave the club at the end of the season in search of regular first-team football.

Guardiola, who was reluctant to let sell the prospect in the first place, has been impressed by the form shown by the Spain Under-21 international, who has replaced John Obi-Mikel as the defensive shield.

Villas-Boas will be desperate to hold on to Romeu, one of the few players that have impressed since his arrival, after he tried to sign last season while boss at Porto.

Villas-Boas refuses to call in Alex

Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas has defended his refusal to “dial 911” for Alex as a matter of principle.

That is despite a potential injury crisis and Villas-Boas’ previous claims that defender Alex – and striker Nicolas Anelka – could yet earn a recall to his first-team squad.

If ever there was a time to bring Alex in from the cold, it is now, with Chelsea potentially down to just one fit centre-half for today’s west London derby with Fulham.

But Villas-Boas insisted he would rather play Jose Bosingwa, Paulo Ferreira or Oriol Romeu out of position than turn to a man he banished from his squad for submitting a transfer request.

“He’s not going to play,” Villas-Boas said.

“Because we have accepted a transfer request in anticipation of the market and we are not stupid people.

“We don’t push out people who submit transfer requests and put people apart to then dial 911 and ask for help.

“So, at the moment, we will stick to our principles and to our values.

“It was a decision we thought was good for the club.

“The request was accepted, so we have to let the market open and we have to continue to adapt ourselves if situations like this continue to arise.”

Asked if he now regretted acting so hastily with Alex, Villas-Boas said: “That was a decision that we felt sensible and competent at that time and we will stick to it.”

Villas-Boas reiterated why Alex and Shanghai Shenhua-bound Anelka were banished in the first place, with the decision also partly a response to Chelsea’s worst start to a season since Roman Abramovich bought the club.

He said: “We went on that run of results and we wanted everybody on the same tune regarding training and the same tune in terms of commitment, concentration and objectives – immediate club objectives.

“So it was not a thing to penalise anybody. It was just to fine tune the environment that we have.”

The Chelsea boss was also coy over Alex’s desire to leave, something that would appear to stem from his slide down the pecking order to third choice as John Terry’s partner.

“Everybody has ambitions,” Villas-Boas said.

“We are speaking about an extremely professional player and personality and I think he had his personal ambitions and that’s why we accepted.”

Villas-Boas eyes £20m Rodwell move

Speculation suggests Villas-Boas has joined rivals Manchester United and Manchester City in tracking the progress of the 20-year-old, who made his full England debut earlier this season.

The Chelsea boss has made no secret of his desire to freshen things up at Stamford Bridge since being appointed in the summer with the likes of Daniel Sturridge, Oriel Romeu and Raul Meireles all having established themselves in the first team over the last few months.

And it is understood that Villas-Boas sees Rodwell as an ideal long-term replacement in midfield for Frank Lampard and Michael Essien, who has struggled with a series of serious injuries over the last three years.

Everton are understandably keen to retain one of their most valuable players but the Goodison Park club revealed major debts at the start of this season and boss David Moyes admitted recently to the press: “I’ve always said if any club is going to come and try to take our better players, we don’t sell cheap. It’s expensive to buy from us.”